Imaging device, such as printers, may include various security systems, for example, to protect billing information and/or to protect confidential customer data. In general, mechanisms for achieving printer security may include both hardware and software. In any security system, the weakest link may limit the overall security of the system. In the printer architecture, for example, one of the weakest links may be the vulnerability of the embedded firmware to tampering. Sophisticated hackers may reprogram portions of the firmware that effectively bypasses security measures. One way to protect against these attacks is for a security system to detect that the firmware has been modified and to prevent normal operation of the system. If the firmware itself is used to detect modifications, then the piece of firmware that performs tamper detection should be trustworthy.